‘Of course I’m as hungry,’ he added. ‘I carry a bit more pressure on my shoulders than 20 years ago but the hunger is exactly the same.

‘When you see what the club was and what it is today – when I arrived we were seven people [members of staff], we are 700 today.

‘I hate defeat. I can understand the fans that are unhappy with every defeat but the only way to have victory is to stick together with the fans and give absolutely everything until the end of the season, that’s all we can do.’